


The Girl Who Cried Wolf

by kalodola



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Love, Werewolves, Young Remus Lupin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 07:28:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19421299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalodola/pseuds/kalodola
Summary: In which two people overcome their experiences and find love along the way.





	1. Prologue

‘What an amazing way to spend Summer,’ Astrid sighed as she held up her flute of champagne.

‘Cheers to that,’ Sirius replied sarcastically, clinking his glass off of hers before they both tilted their heads back and downed the whole thing, thanking Merlin for the only thing making this night bareable.

The two friends were hunched over a table, begging to be anywhere else ; but here they were, at a party for the purest of blood, watching their parents complain about those ‘filthy mud-bloods.’ 

‘I’m lucky they even let me out of the house,’ Astrid smiled sadly at Sirius’ comment, squeezing his hand which lay on the table in a fist. Luckily for Astrid, her parents were slightly more liberal at home and weren’t as fully neglectful or abusive as Sirius’ parents were – it hurt to see the only person understanding her situation hurt.

‘For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here.’ 

‘You seem to be the only one, I’ll miss you,’ Sirius said as he brought the much smaller girl into his chest. In return, she squeezed his toned body, digging her fists into his back slightly. 

Sirius flinched.

Astrid looked up into his face, his long hair brushing her cheek, ‘you okay?’ He gulped harshly and smiled, ‘yeah, just caught sight of Bellatrix and Rodolphous snogging.’

Astrid giggled and looked behind her. Sure enough, there was Bellatrix and Rodolphous snogging as Bellatrix slightly pushed him into the wall. ‘Jesus, they really need to get a room.’ Her face turned back to Sirius, who was still hanging tightly to her hand. ‘Anyways, dear brother, I’ll miss you too.’

Sirius’ slight smile dropped, quickly letting go of Astrid’s hand as a steady grip was placed upon her shoulder. ‘It’s time to go, sweetheart,’ her father said gruffly and she quickly got up, giving a small wave to Sirius.

‘Bye, sis!’ He shouted at her retreating form, just to spite Astrid’s father, who knew fully well of his rebelliousness against his parents.

He complained about it to Astrid on several occasions.

The slamming of a car door was the sound of the night ending badly. 

‘Astrid Fawley! Get back here right now!’ Her father shouted after her as she quickly ran into the house, a brief shout of ‘shut up! I’m going for a run!’ coming from behind the closed front door. 

By the time her parents made it into the house Astrid had already ripped off the tulle dress she had been forced into for the night and donned her usual running gear. She slipped past her stern faced father and worrisome mother and slammed the door to her home.

This seemed to be the routine the Fawley family had taken up when it came to these events over the past year. The family would go to the pureblood party, Astrid would immediately run off to Sirius while her parents engaged in some stupid conversation with the prejudiced idiots they all seemed to be related to. When the party was over, the family would hop back in the car and an argument would break out over the close friendship of Astrid and Sirius, her mother blindly agreeing with her father.

‘Your mother will do what I say,’ was the usual line.

It would always end with a car door slamming and a pissed off Astrid going for a run.

Tonight was worse than usual though, thoughts of Sirius flinching back away from her swirled around her head and she became embroiled in a rage. The thought of what he had to go through at home killed her inside. 

Walburga and Orion didn’t deserve children.

Even her parents had never raised their hand to her, despite being nearly as prejudiced as the Black parents were.

Astrid’s trainer clad feet were slapping harder and harder against the wet pavement, these thoughts running through her head, as she herself ran towards the forest in the little seaside village the Fawley’s lived in. It was late, the drive home taking two hours from London, and the full moon seemed to be at its peak.

It was when the sound of her footsteps hollowed out, hitting the forest floor that she realised what night it was and realised the reason for her mother’s worried expression. Astrid could only hurl insults at herself in her head as she slowed to a stop, the cold settling in on her small body.

Since her childhood she had been told tales of werewolves and now she was worried she would actually meet one. Fear seemed to creep up on her as the trees seemed to block out the moonlight and a sound of rustling leaves reached her ears.

_Surely it’s just the wind._

Astrid turned on her heel and began to slowly tip toe out of the forest, it wouldn’t be effective against the hypersensitive hearing of a werewolf but it reassured her slightly. Something in her mind told her something was following her in the darkness but she blamed it on paranoia.

_Use some of the Gryffindor bravery you’re meant to have…_

When she did hear a snarl from behind her and turned to see what she had feared all along behind her, _a werewolf,_ she couldn’t even scream or move, let alone breathe as she became a statue.

After a moment of sheer terror, Astrid began to run again, not even making it out of the forest before she fell face first into the roots of trees. A heavy weight was on her back and the only thing she felt before seeing black was a pulsing pain ripping into her shoulder.

She woke up about 2 hours later, the sunlight from dawn breaking through the trees and almost blinding Astrid who quickly moved her hand over her face, a dull ache all over her body. Memories of the night before flashed in her brain and suddenly she was jumping up, nearly keeling over again at the pain that shot through her body.

Getting home before her parents woke up and realised what happened was her main priority as she tried to quickly waddle home.

Later on that day, Astrid slipped out of the shower, a dressing gown wrapped around her injured body as she came to face the still worried features of her mother.

She reached out and gingerly touched the cut that was beginning to bruise on Astrid’s pale face, ‘oh sweetie, what happened?’

‘I fell on some roots last night, it was pretty dark,’ Astrid replied, a reassuring smile gracing her face.

_Things had gone to shit quickly._


	2. Chapter 1

It was the 24thof August, a few days after the full moon that month – Astrid hadn’t coped well.

Since the night she had been bitten by the mysterious werewolf, she had locked herself away like Rapunzel in a tower, never sending her owl to reply to the many letters she received from her friends and seldom coming down for food. Everything seemed to have deteriorated in her life since that night; her health, her happiness and her relationship with her parents (if it getting worse was possible.) 

This caused her parents to be absent for her first full moon as she was so hard to be around when she was all skin and bones. It wasn’t like they knew what was about to happen to their daughter, of course. They had left on the Wednesday that week and came back on Sunday, leaving Astrid a few days to get the house back together, despite not wanting to move at all after she had almost wrecked the place in her animalistic form.

Her first full moon was almost as graceless as she felt as standing on Platform 9 and ¾. It was teeming with students getting tear-streaked goodbyes from their parents; for Astrid, this was the opposite. Her gruff father gave her a one-armed hug and awkward kiss on the forehead but her mother was more watery-eyed, telling her to take care of herself with her eyes travelling over Astrid’s frail figure.

Her mother wasn’t the only one worrying for her though, Sirius was looking back and forth across the platform like he was watching a tennis match. The rest of the marauders were quick to pick up on his slightly off mood. James was the first to ask him about it.

‘What’s wrong, Sirius? Your parents have left already. I saw them leave the station after Regulus left them for the bloody idiots he hangs about with.’

‘That’s not it,’ he replied, starting to fidget with his hands, a very unusual sign of anxiety in the usually outspoken boy.

‘Then what’s wrong with you?’ 

‘It’s bloody Astrid, Remus, she hasn’t wrote me back since that stupid party we went to in Summer.’ Sirius finally snapped.

‘Yeah we know, she hasn’t replied to any of my letters either…’ Remus replied in an exasperated voice.

‘Me neither.’ Peter piped in.

‘Same,’ James replied looking thoughtful. ‘I wonder if Lily hasn’t heard from her either.’ He waved about at the girl making a fool of himself. ‘Hey, Evans! Get over here!’

The ginger-haired girl scoffed at the four boys but did as she was told, beginning the short conversation with a ‘have any of you seen Astrid?’

‘Nope. I haven’t even heard from her since the middle of Summer.’ Sirius replied.

‘Does that not seem a bit sus-‘ Lily’s question was cut off when the girls jaw dropped and the boys were alerted to the sight that was so familiar but seemed so alien at the same time. It was Astrid but at the same time it wasn’t. She almost looked dead. Astrid was as white as a ghost, as thin as a stick, with bags under her eyes like bruises and a tired smile gracing her face as she lazily approached the marauders and Lily.

‘Astrid!’ Sirius jumped at the girl, lifting her into his arms and spinning her around as she winced slightly. Soon she had been passed about the group, hugging everyone and each time feeling a slight ache in her frail form, injuries from the events of the full moon. If anyone had noticed, they didn’t say anything. 

‘I’m going to sit with Severus, but we need to talk later,’ Lily whispered to her as they hugged a final time. Astrid nodded and the two departed from each other, leaving Astrid with the famous marauders who shooed her into a compartment. She eventually ended up squished between Remus and the window, the group was asking about the others Summers until they ended up at Astrid.

‘Well, your Summer must’ve been great considering you never bothered to reply to me owling you,’ Sirius began sassily, leaning his head against his hand.

Astrid gingerly tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, ‘I’m really sorry, I just had a lot to think about.’ An idea suddenly sprung to her mind and she smiled in mock shyness, ‘for what it’s worth, I really missed you… bro.’

Sirius perked up instantly and tackled Astrid, ‘you know just how to make me feel better,’ he began faking kissing all over her cheeks to which she gagged and pulled out of his grip. 

‘Okay, okay, that’s enough.’

‘Yeah, you guys are too bloody loud,’ Remus grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

‘Sorry, Remus…’ Astrid suddenly remembered how sick the lanky boy got sometimes but quickly recovered, nudging him, ‘but don’t get jealous because you’re not getting all the attention,’ she joked with him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

‘Hmm, you wish,’ he replied while the rest of the boys in the compartment shared secret glances and smirked. 

‘Shush you, I’m trying to sleep,’ Astrid snuggled into Remus’ shoulder and closed her eyes before yawning, ‘I’m always really tired for some reason now.’ 

_Maybe if you’d ate something,_ was the only thing Sirius could sarcastically think as he looked at the girl. Here she was, acting like normal after being distant most of the Summer. Her behaviour reminded him of himself, that left him to wonder if Astrid’s really were worse than they seemed, if they were worse than Sirius’ own and were now hurting her.

There could be no other explanation, surely Astrid wasn’t doing this to herself. 

Why would she?

Sirius wasn’t so sure, Astrid’s sleeve had been tugged ever so slightly up and it didn’t take much to see the red scratches standing out amongst her ivory skin. 

He would have to talk to her about it when they got to Hogwarts.

The other boys were just as worried, James and Peter were basically sitting across from a bag of bones as they talked in hushed voices, trying not to wake Remus who had his head resting on Astrid’s who in turn had her head resting on one of his broad shoulders.

They both looked like they needed the sleep.

Before he had been resting, even Remus was worried about the state of Astrid’s health. No one could look like that and not be in the right state of mind. Not that he could speak, the bags under his eyes were just as dark as hers and his body was covered in hundreds more scratches than her scrawny wrist currently was.

She had nuzzled into him like she was trying to bury herself into him, and that was how she looked. 

Close to death.


	3. Chapter 2

Breakfast at Hogwarts used to be a time when Astrid would grab coffee and cereal and prepare herself calmly for the day ahead; now it was a time when Remus, Sirius, James and Peter would always look expectantly at her and wait for her to take a first bite from her bowl. This new tradition only made her look glumly at her food and not want to touch it at all. However, to keep herself alive, she would take a few bites then chug her morning coffee down before swiftly leaving the great hall.

‘Astrid, I think we need to talk…’ was the first words Lily had spoken to her when she got back to her dorm that day before the red head burst into a passionate rant about how Astrid should take better care of herself, because ‘quite frankly you look half dead,’ and how this sudden change in her appearance wasn’t because of what some boy had said to her. 

Astrid had sat quietly through Lily’s rant, thinking about how none of this was for the reasons she thought it was. She couldn’t bring herself to eat. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep. She could barely bring herself to get out of her bed in the morning. 

All because she lived in fear of what had happened to her that dreadful night in the middle of Summer.

Imagine if any of her friends found out… what would they say to her? They couldn’t just accept someone who went berserk once a month and could possibly kill them? Sirius would never talk to her again. Her family would disown her. Astrid would be isolated for the rest of her life.

Her train of thought was broken by Marlene McKinnon bursting into their dorm.

‘Oh Merlin, Astrid! When you said you were thinking about going on a diet last year, I didn’t think you meant this!’

Astrid spent a lot of time standing in front of the bathroom mirror that night. Everyone had been right to worry. Every bone that could possibly stick out was and every time she breathed in it only seemed to make things look worse on her sickly, scar speckled body.

The image stuck got stuck in her head for a long time.

Astrid was still thinking about as she sat in the Gryffindor common room that night, the fire beside her crackling in her ear startled her every once in a while before she could let herself fall further into the abyss that was her mind.

It didn’t take long for the pale girl to begin to tear up. 

‘Astrid?’ Light brown eyes met her bloodshot ones.

It was Remus.

‘Oh, Astrid…’ was all he uttered softly, pulling the now sobbing Astrid into his warmth. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Remus…’ Astrid’s voice came, garbled by her face being pressed into the middle of his chest. She pulled back, ‘Remus, Lily was right…’ She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before suddenly exclaiming.

‘Oh, Merlin! What have I done? I can’t be here anymore!’

Astrid detached herself from Remus who was looking like a kicked puppy, running out of the common room and straight to Dumbledore’s office. The journey was enough time for her to get herself together but her eyes still remained bloodshot.

Her frail hand reached out gingerly and knocked the door.

Dumbledore opened it up and gave Astrid a smile. ‘Miss Fawley, what can I do for you?’

‘I’ve made a mistake, Sir. I shouldn’t be here, I’m putting everyone – even my friends – in danger!’ Astrid was frantic, pacing the room.

‘Please calm down, Astrid, I’m sure whatever your talking about can be fixed. Now, can you elaborate?’ 

‘Something happened to me this Summer. Something really, really bad.’ Astrid’s voice cracked as she spoke.

The gears in Dumbledore’s head began to turn.

‘What happened, Miss Fawley?’

Astrid became frantic again, ‘well, it was a full moon…’ The tears were coming quick again, blurring her vision as she croaked out what she was trying to say. ‘I was going for a run and I heard something in the forest and it- it bit me. I wasn’t sure about what exactly it was at first – of course I had my theories - but then it was the next full moon and I nearly wrecked my house! I’m a monster, sir! You have to send me home before I hurt someone!’

‘No, Miss Fawley. I will not send you home for you’re not the first werewolf to be taught at Hogwarts.’ 

Astrid’s jaw gaped in shock.

‘And you’re certainly not a monster.’ 

‘Wh-wha-‘

‘There is a secret passage under the Whomping Willow, that is where this other werewolf would go on full moons, you can do the same. Madame Pomfrey will take care of any injuries you might sustain the morning after.’

Astrid was still standing in shock.

‘Now, Miss Fawley, off you pop! And take care, you look rather ill these days.’

She scoffed as she stepped out the door.

Meanwhile in the Gryffindor common room, Hogwart’s other resident werewolf by the name of Remus Lupin was fuming, at Lily Evans of all people.

The boy was pacing angrily, thinking about all the possible things the red head could’ve said that had made Astrid say ‘I can’t be here anymore.’ The usually well-mannered and quiet boy didn’t expect himself to burst into the girls dormitory where Lily sat alone to begin shouting at her, but he still did. 

The scene didn’t take long to garner the attention of the rest of the marauders. At first Sirius and Peter were confused and James was rather offended at his best friend shouting at his crush but still gave him a chance to justify himself, ‘why on earth are you shouting at Lily Pad, Remus?’

‘For Merlin’s sake, James! Now isn’t the time for your bloody stupid crush on Lily.’ Remus suddenly cried, his eyes welling up as he pointed at said girl accusatorily. ‘Whatever she said made Astrid run off, sobbing her eyes out saying that she shouldn’t be here anymore!’

‘What the fuck, Lily?’ Sirius’ voices came next.

The room descending into chaos with Lily trying to brush off the shouts of the four boys who were now angrily ranting at her.

‘Does Astrid really seem like she needs someone bloody bullying her when she’s clearly not-‘

Remus’ next round of ranting was cut off by Lily shouting back at them, ‘would you four bloody idiots shut up! I told Astrid to start taking care of herself because she looked like she was bloody dying! I’m not bullying my best friend, for Merlin’s sake, Remus, what do you think I am!?’

A wave of silence came across the room.

‘Oh… sorry,’ Remus uttered quietly, reverting back to his normal self.

‘It’s okay?’ Lily accepted his apology, slightly shaken by the out of character turn from the boy.

Sirius nudged James in the side. ‘Merlin, Remus is quite scary when it comes to Astrid, isn’t he?’


	4. Chapter 3

‘Today we are going to be making the Calming Draught. Can anyone tell me what this is used for?’ Professor Slughorn stood at the front of the room, holding up a small vial of a brownish liquid.

Lily immediately put her hand up, ‘it soothes the nerves of the drinker.’

‘Correct, Miss Evans. It is used to calm a person after shock, trauma or emotional outbursts.’

‘Merlin, I could use some Calming Draught then.’ Astrid sarcastically interjected, loud enough so Sirius, her partner in the class, could hear her and scoff in reply of her remark.

‘Now, in your partners I want you to turn to page 110 and start creating the potion. If anyone needs any help, feel free to ask me about the potion.

Astrid sighed heavily, taking her head from the palm of her hand and rolling up her sleeves before turning to Sirius. It was the first class of her second week of the school year and already her energy and motivation - which were barely there to begin with - were at all all time low.

She just wanted to get this over and done with.

‘Right, let’s get this over with.’ She began collecting the ingredients, swiftly dropping them into her swirling cauldron in the right amounts and in the right conditions, listing the ingredients off as she went along. However, Sirius hadn’t moved the whole time.

Instead he was stuck in his thoughts.

What Astrid hadn’t realised is when she rolled her sleeves up the pink lines that had buried themselves deep into her pale skin were extremely visible. Sirius’ worry was increasing by the minute as the thoughts from the previous time he had spotted her scars came back.

What if she was doing this to herself? What if her parents were doing this to her? Which is worse? _No, their equally as bad._ Why would she do it to herself in the first place? Last year everything had been perfect.

‘ _Well,_ are you going to help me, dear brother?’ Astrid asked, waiting for the gaping boy to move. ‘What are you staring at anyway?’ Her eyes trailed down and followed to where Sirius’ lay on her arms.

Her arms.

‘Merlin,’ Astrid uttered out awkwardly, pulling down her sleeves with a slightly emotional scoff, feeling her eyes well up in tears a bit which she roughly wiped away.

When class was over, it didn’t take long for Astrid to quickly run out of the room.

Sirius went after her just as fast.

‘Hey, Astrid! I think we bloody well need to talk!’ He grabbed her wrist roughly and pulled her back to face her.

‘Merlin, let go, I’m delicate!’ Astrid wrenched her wrist from his grip.

‘Now’s really not the time to be joking,’ he rubbed his hands over his face and talked a strand of his long black hair behind his ear exasperatedly. ‘You know we’re all worried about you.’

Astrid looked down at the comment. Things for her seemed hopeless, her life would be over if she told him she was a werewolf and her life would be just as bad if she continued the way she had taken to acting now. Stony faced and in a haughty tone, she replied, 'I can't keep you lot from worrying when there's nothing to be worried about.'

'You say that,' he rolled up Astrid's sleeve more gently than he originally had grabbed it and pointed to her arms, 'but then what the hell are these and where did you get them from?'

'Hey, don't take that tone with me... I remember that stupid party in Summer. When I hugged you... when I hugged you, you flinched away from me! Why didn't you tell me they were hurting you?' Astrid replied, 'you're keeping your own bloody secrets from me.'

Sirius scoffed, 'them hurting me!? I don't care if they hurt me but Merlin, if you're parents are hurting you, then it's all my fault isn't it? They only shout at you because I'm just a rebellious 'blood-traitor' to them.' The boy slid down the wall, his head in his hands as things began to look even worse than he originally thought.

Both of them had scalding tears welling up in their eyes.

'They're not hurting me, Sirius...' 

'So that's why you said those things to Remus, that you 'can't be here anymore.'' Realisation hit her when Sirius spoke those words.

Her friends thought she was suicidal.

'I didn't mean it like that Sirius.' Astrid paused to compose herself but only seemed to break down even further. 'It's just... Something happened this Summer and I jus-' Her voice caught in her throat and soon the first sobs came tumbling out as the memories rushed back to her.

_I'm a bloody monster,_ was what she was going to say.

Sirius scooted closer to Astrid and gingerly wrapped his arm around the girls shoulders, biting his lip and looking up to the ceiling to keep the tears that were threatening to stream down his face to fall. 'It's okay, sis, it's okay.' She sniffled into his shoulder. 'But you do know this needs to stop.'

Her croaking voice sputtered out a reply, 'and you do know you also need to sort your damn shit out as well.'

Sirius forced a small chuckle as he rocked the girl's frail body back and forth, settling the last of her sobbing down. 'Also, you need to eat, I can feel your bloody bones, sis.'

Then it was Astrid's turn to let out a small chuckle even though the thought of how her body looked still made her feel like shit. 'Yeah, I know, I sort of look like a twelve year old boy.'

'A beautiful twelve year old boy,' Sirius kissed the top of her head, continuing to rock the two back and forth.

'I'm going to pretend you never said that, bro.' The two both chuckled as they broke apart and lay their heads against the wall they were both leaning against.

'All jokes aside, we can do this together.'

'You're right. I definitely needed this,' Astrid sniffed again.

'Merlin, we must look a picture,' Sirius groaned and they both burst into laughter.

They were right, they were a picture. However, Astrid and Sirius' relationship was one of the things the girl held dearest in her life. He was the brother she never had, after all. So in that moment Astrid decided that whatever happened next, she would take it in stride and make the best of it. For Sirius, and for the rest of her friends.

_I will get better._


	5. Chapter 4

Things had been looking up since Astrid and Sirius had broken down in each other’s arms. Both of them were looking happier, everyone could see the life springing back into their eyes and Astrid had even put on a little more weight.

‘Merlin, I’m so hungry!’ The girl exclaimed, shovelling food into her mouth at dinner.

‘Oh really?’ Sirius asked sarcastically from across the table and got a punch in the shoulder from Remus. ‘Merlin, Remus, every time someone seems to go near Astrid you freak the fuck out.’

‘It’s not my fault if you’re being a git.’

‘Astrid doesn’t mind, sure you don’t?’ 

She absent-mindedly nodded, still wolfing down the food that was dwindling on her plate. 

If it was any other girl, the marauders would’ve been shocked or maybe even slightly disgusting at the amount of food on the girls plate but this was Astrid. Over the two weeks that had passed since Sirius and Astrid’s little breakdown the girl had started to fill out again. Gone was the ’12 year old boy body’ as Astrid’s bag of bones was filling out more and more, creating more curves along her skinny figure.

Later in the evening, the marauders and the Astrid’s female Gryffindor friends – Lily, Marlene, Mary and Dorcas- all sat in the Gryffindor common room. Lily was, of course, busy being pestered by James who had been winking at her persistently and insisting on holding her hostage in conversation every time he caught that golden snitch he always seemed to be throwing into the air. Peter and Mary sat playing a game of wizard chess, overseen by Dorcas who took to cheering on whoever was winning the game in that particular moment. Sirius and Marlene sitting side by side on the sofa across from Astrid, casually flirting as Sirius stretched an arm around the back of the sofa in a mock yawn.

‘Merlin, I’m so bloated,’ Astrid held onto her stomach as she rolled on the top of Remus who sat beside her. He patted her shoulder in mock pity and went back to reading the book that had been knocked out of his lap when Astrid had rolled onto him.

‘You’re damn comfy, Remus,’ she snuggled her head into his lap and he hummed in reply but a small tell tale sign pulled at the corner of his mouth told her he was still listening to what she was saying. 

Astrid stared up at Remus, she didn’t think she’d ever really looked at him this up close. She’d only began to notice the silvery flecks that swam in his light brown eyes which were currently trailing along words on the page. It seemed that Remus’ mood had lightened with hers over the last few weeks, the purple bags like bruises under his eyes had eased up and even his scars looked less visible in the warm light of the fire place.

His scars. She had almost forgotten they were even there.

Astrid’s hand brushed over her own scars that adorned her arms. Morbid curiosity took her over and she reached her hand up to Remus’ face and brushed her fingers over the 2 long scars that had driven themselves into his face.

‘What are you doing?’ Remus sounded slightly offended but a light tinge of pink adorned his cheeks as he looked down at her.

‘I don’t know, I’m tired.’ Astrid slipped her hand away and continued to snuggle her way into the abnormally warm boy.

‘Merlin, get a room,’ Sirius called out and removed his arm from around Marlene’s shoulders before taking her hand.

‘Like you can talk,’ Astrid replied.

‘Well, now that you mention it, me and Mar are going to find one right now,’ he replied and led the girl out of the portrait hole, not missing the gagging noises Astrid had sputtered out.

‘Oh Merlin,’ Remus sighed before going back to his book while Astrid stared up at the ceiling.

The two had been left alone and Astrid hadn’t even realised that the rest of the group had left in the first place. She hated to admit it but she had been too enraptured in Remus, it seemed. In her mind she wasn't really sure if what she was feeling in that moment was romantic or platonic, just admiring someone who she happened to be close to.

Staring at the ceiling soon got boring and she started to poke Remus every so often. 'Astrid, what are you doing now?'

'Nothing, Remus,' she replied in a sing song voice and continued to poke him until he gripped onto her wrist, getting slightly annoyed at her. 'Sorry...'

'It's fine,' he sighed and turned back to his book.

'Well, you can't just go back to your book now, Rem. I want attention,' she dragged her voice out and poked him even faster.

This time he gripped onto both of her wrists and pushed her back into the sofa with a small smirk on his face. Astrid squeaked, left breathless as Remus was now leaning over the top of each other.

To any onlookers, if there were any, this would've been a very compromising position.

Astrid found herself trapped under the cage that was his surprisingly muscular arms for someone who did no exercise and she didn't seem to mind, which surprised her even more. Both of them were leaning closer to each other, breath hitting each of their faces as their lips were slightly parted. 

And the moment was ruined by the return of Marlene and Sirius through the portrait hole. Quickly springing apart, Astrid scoffed at the two, 'you certainly didn't take long, did you?' Remus chuckled as well.

'Very funny, you must've lost track of time staring at Remus,' Marlene retorted back and kissed Sirius on the cheek, wishing him a goodnight before climbing the stairs to the girls dormitory.

'That's my girl,' Sirius muttered under his breath, watching Marlene's hips sway back and forth.

'Merlin, were those words of commitment coming from the Sirius Black's mouth?'

'I couldn't see it happening, dear Remus.' Astrid replied, 'in fact, I hear he's meeting a poor Ravenclaw girl in a broom cupboard tomorrow.'

Sirius repeated her words in a high pitched voice to mock her before uttering an 'I'm away to bed.'

Astrid smiled softly at Remus.

'I should probably get going to bed too,' Remus said to the girl and they awkwardly embraced each other, remembering their almost kiss. When they pulled away Astrid went to kiss his cheek but Remus turned his head at the wrong time and the girl ended up placing an awkward kiss on the corner of his mouth.

They jumped apart for the second time that night.

'Okay! Night Astrid,' Remus ran not-so-subtly to the marauder's dorm and looked back at her.

'Night, Rem.'


	6. Chapter 5

The day of the first Hogsmeade trip had started badly.

Before she even made it to the bathroom that morning blood had been trailing down her legs. Thankfully, the rest of the girls in her dorm were down at breakfast or were still asleep so they couldn’t laugh at her as she waddled quickly to reach her sanitary products. To make matters worse, the full moon was tonight.

This meant she had two fun little ‘time of months.’

And they just happened to fall on the same day.

As if cramps weren’t bad enough.

‘Turn that frown upside down, Astrid, it’s our first Hogsmeade trip!’ Mary squealed excitedly, applying her makeup in the mirror as Astrid came back from the bathroom, a frown etched deep into her face.

‘My bloody period came,’ she snapped, not ‘turning her frown upside down.’

‘Guess that pun was intended,’ Lily joined in the conversation, brushing her ginger hair out of her face as she climbed out of bed. ‘Merlin, why did no one wake me up?’

‘Because we know what you’re like in the mornings,’ Marlene groaned, mirroring Lily’s action as she too had just woken up.

‘You know, I was actually just about to send James in,’ Astrid spoke to the redhead, stroking her chin as though she was in deep thought.

‘NO!’

Astrid’s smirk was quickly wiped from her face as she felt a mysterious force start squeezing and twisting her insides around. She almost doubled over and Mary looked at her worriedly, ‘you should really get something from Madame Pomfrey if it’s that bad.’

‘Fine but I still need to get dressed first,’ Astrid groaned and started pulling clothes out of her suitcase, finally settling on wearing a jumper tucked into a mini-skirt with tights, trying to emulate something she had seen in muggle magazines while staying warm at the same time.

When Madame Pomfrey came face to face with her, her face grew with worry. ‘Oh, hello Astrid, I suppose you have some questions about what will happen later tonight?’

‘No actually, I was wondering if you had anything for cramps?’ With that Madame Pomfrey’s look of worry eased up and she nodded, going over to her cabinets filled with medicines.

‘I can either give you a Draught of Peace or a Pepperup Potion, it depends whether you want steam dribbling out of your ears for a few hours or not, pet.’ She held up the two liquids in each hand. Astrid immediately reached for the Draught of Peace and downed it.

‘Let’s hope this’ll help them pass, we never know, it might even help with tonight…’

‘Hey, sis, you almost look as bad as Remus!’ Sirius greeted her as he gestured to said boy, who looked as though he hadn’t slept in years and was as white as a ghost.

‘I’ll ignore that comment,’ she replied grumpily then walked to Remus, nudging him lightly in the side, ‘you okay, Rem?’ 

‘Hmm.. what? Yeah ‘m fine…’ He rubbed his eyes as he spoke to the girl who rolled her eyes in response.

‘Sure you are.’

‘Anyways, where shall we go first? Zonko’s or Honeydukes?’ James butted in, trying to wrap an arm around Lily who swiftly rejected him by slapping him on the arm.

‘Definitely Zonko’s, Remus and Astrid look like they need cheering up,’ Marlene began, ‘also we’re going to the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeers later on.’

By the time later on came around and the group made it to the Three Broomsticks, Remus and Astrid’s mood hadn’t improved at all. 

In fact, it only seemed to be worse. 

The two were nearly leaning on each other for support they were so tired and Astrid’s makeup couldn’t even cover the dark circles that matched Remus’ own. ‘Merlin, we know Remus is grumpy because he’s sick but what’s wrong with you, Astrid?’

‘Just tired.’ She replied gruffly, taking another sip of her butterbeer, resulting in a white moustache forming on her face, almost blending into her pallor.

‘I thought Madame Pomfrey gave you a Draught of Peace,’ Mary spoke up from her usual spot beside Peter.

Astrid nodded, ‘she did. Didn’t work.’

‘Clearly not,’ Sirius scoffed as he reached out and wiped the beer moustache away from her lips. Astrid groaned and slapped his hand away moodily.

’I’m actually feeling not too good right now,’ Astrid stood up, ‘I’ll go.’

’I’ll come with you,’ Remus stood up and made eye contact with the marauders, widening them a little to subtly tell them it’s a full moon. James let out a little ‘ah’ but then exclaimed a goodbye before trying to wrap his arm around Lily again.

Astrid and Remus didn’t miss the loud wolf whistle from Sirius as the cold air hit their faces, it would be sunset soon and neither of them wanted to be around eachother when the full moon came out. They didn’t want to hurt each other because they cared each other more than they cared to admit.

’So...’ Remus tried to awkwardly conversation, ‘are you alright? You seem pretty down today?’

’Yeah, my period just came at the worst time possible,’ Astrid groaned out before she realised what she actually said.

Their cheeks both reddened at the same time.

’Well... I hope you feel better,’ Remus stuttered out and the silence continued.

After a while Astrid got sick of this and asked her own question, ‘what about you? No offence but you’re looking quite under the weather today, Rem?’

’Yeah, I’m feeling quite ill but I’m used to it at this point.’

’Yeah, you do get sick a lot.’

After they had reached the castle they parted ways, preparing for the full moon in their own ways.

Astrid almost missed reached the Whomping Willow by the time she began to feel her bones crack and her body start to reshape into that of a beast. She dove under the tree into the passage way with little time to spare as she moaned in pain.

There was another person.

And they looked oddly familiar.

But Astrid couldn’t make them out in the blur of tears that clouded her vision as the pain of reforming into a wolf hurt more and more. The boy, she assumed, who shared the room with her was going through the same pain.

Remus wasn’t even remotely aware there was anyone else with him until he turned around in wolf form to see another wolf standing right next to him. If he had been able to think comprehensive thoughts when did see the other wolf, he would’ve been just as confused as his wolf which drove him to slashing his claws into himself.

Astrid was doing the same, if she thought her first time was awful, this was even worse. Her claws ripping through her skin felt like someone was holding a hot poker to her.

After a while silence filled the room as the two werewolves finally looked at each other in eyes. At first they were both hesistant, scratching at each other here and there before they seemed to get along well, playfighting through the night.

What Astrid thought would be the worst night possible had become slightly more bearable.

When the two wolves had grown tired of wrecking the Shrieking Shack further than it already was they settled on the small bed in the corner. Astrid curled up, cuddling into Remus’ warm brown further, that reminded her of the boys eyes, even in her unconscious state, much like she did when she was human.

Both had the best sleep they had ever had on a full moon, despite Astrid’s limited experiences of them.

Their peaceful sleep might turn to shock and horror in the morning.


	7. Chapter 6

The next morning was an odd one with Astrid waking up with a groan which then caused Remus to wake up. He was startled, to say the least, when he found his arms wrapped around the waist of a mysterious burgundy-haired girl who smelled strangely familiar. Astrid was also surprised to find herself encased in two arms too muscular to be female.

Astrid’s head almost did a 180 degree turn only to find the arms wrapped around her were none other than her best friend’s, Remus Lupin’s. She thought she had dreamed last night, of the other werewolf Dumbledore had only hinted at, but here he was and he was her best friend. 

She didn’t know what to do.

‘Astrid?’ Remus’ confused voice broke through the heavy silence and the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

‘Rem? You’re… you’re the other werewolf?’ 

‘The other werewolf? I thought I was the only one?’ Remus rubbed the hand that had been on Astrid’s stomach down his face and laid his head back on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling and wondering how the hell he had got here.

The awkwardness of them being in bed together, half unclothed and cuddling hadn’t even registered to Astrid as she felt hot tears prick at her eyes, ‘you’ve had to go through this alone for how long? Why didn’t you tell me, Rem?’

‘Because I’m a monster,’ Remus sputtered out, not realising him being a monster meant she was very clearly one too. Astrid had to remind him by saying, ‘if you’re a monster then I’m one too.’

‘I’m sorry… I don’t know what I’m saying…’ He realised his mistake and ran his hand down his face all over again, the other hand still trapped by Astrid who hadn’t noticed it’s presence.

‘You do know what you’re saying, Rem, but don’t worry. You know, I thought I was a monster too but maybe now that we’re together things can get better.’

‘You’re being awfully optimistic for someone who was almost on the verge of death about two weeks ago.’ Remus didn’t even realise he was snapping at her.

‘Shut up, Remus.’

He groaned, ‘sorry.’

‘I know, it’s weird.’

‘You’re not wrong there, Astrid.’

‘I’m just saying we could maybe help each other through this. You can show me the ropes of being a werewolf?’ She tried to make a joke but it didn’t land, leaving them in awkward silence. 

‘The boys already know.’

‘What!? And you never told me?’

‘They figured it out themselves and it’s hard to want to tell your friends you turn into a murderous beast once a month.’

‘I just thought that was a normal thing, sure,’ Astrid replied sarcastically.

Remus lightly slapped her on the arm, ‘maybe for girls.’

‘That’s so sexist!’ She pushed him back and Remus pushed her jokingly into the bed, reminding her of the little moment they had in the Gryffindor common room nearly a week ago. A small blush spread across her face and a grin spread across Remus’ as he leaned over her. ‘Anyways, the boys aren’t werewolves, at least I’m guessing they aren’t-‘

‘Definitely not.’

Silence.

‘Will you tell them?’

‘Do you think it’s a good idea?’ Astrid answered his question with one of her own.

‘I think they would be way less worried than they are now if you told them what had actually been eating you up inside all this time.’

‘Hmm… you’re probably right,’ she reached her arms up around her neck and pulled him down for a hug, effectively crushing Astrid under him. ‘Thank you, Rem,’ her voice came out muffled, ‘for not freaking out.’

‘Well, it’s not like I can freak out,’ Remus said before giving in. ‘Okay, I’m completely freaking out right now.’

‘I know I can here your heartbeat.’ It was true, his heart rate seemed to be at a million beats per second as Astrid found her ear pressed against his chest. Remus quickly crawled off of her, moaning in pain as he twisted in a way that opened one of his self-inflicted injuries up.

‘Maybe let’s go see Madame Pomfrey?’

Remus nodded.

Meanwhile the marauders and female Gryffindors (minus Remus and Astrid) had been worrying for their friends, having not seen them all day. James, Sirius and Peter had been extremely fidgety today, which was uncommon for them apart from maybe Peter.

'What if he has hurt her because they didn't get into the castle on time?' Sirius was pacing back and forth in the boys dormitory, wringing his hands by his sides.

James made a disgruntled sound and shook his head, 'definitely not, Moony is what too sensitive about his furry little problem to let Astrid come near him in that state.'

'I agree with James, Moony wouldn't let anything happen to Astrid, have you seen the way he bloody acts when someone comes near her?' Peter piped in.

'Yeah, you are right. I'm just worried, she's my sister...' Sirius was still pacing.

'Hey, maybe we should just visit him in the Hospital Wing, he's usually with Pomfrey by now.'

When James, Sirius and Peter did make it to the Hospital Wing they were absolutely astounded to find Remus and Astrid laughing together as their bare arms were adorned in freshly made cuts.

'Sis! What happened? You didn't do this to yourself, did you?' Sirius cried out, 'I thought we talked about this.'

Astrid's face turned serious when she noticed the marauder's presence in the Wing, 'umm... I actually have something to tell you guys.'

James had been gaping the whole time, looking back and forth from Remus to Astrid like he was watching a tennis match before things seemed to click in his head. 'You're like Moony?'

'What's a Moony?'

'I mean Remus.'

'Then yes, that's why I was so distant all Summer. If you ever found out, I didn't know what you guys would think of me...' At that point the 3 boys gathered around her and pulled her into a group hug.

'As if I would ever think differently of you, baby sis,' Sirius kissed her on the forehead and squeezed her to which she squeaked in pain.

'Be gentle, bro.'

'Sorry.'

'Now, you silly bitch, don't you ever doubt us as friends again. We love you no matter what, you're still Astrid,' James slapped her lightly on the shoulder.

'Yeah, Astrid,' Peter agreed, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

Remus couldn't help but get a little emotional at the sight of his friends hugging before him. It reminded him of when they figured out that he himself was a werewolf.

It was getting harder to convince himself he was a monster when he was near Astrid.


	8. Chapter 7

'Sis, don't tell me you're replacing me with Moony?' Sirius ambushed Astrid along a corridor one day, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she made her way to the Potion's class they shared. Sirius was, of course, referring to the fact that Remus and Astrid had been seen together more in the past 2 weeks than they had ever been. The two had grown closer ever since they found out they both had the same 'condition.' 

The fact that she knew someone else like her was out there helped Astrid slowly come back into herself, becoming more sarcastic and lively like she had been before summer. Remus was also comforted by Astrid, getting used to the small burgundy-haired being close to his side at most times, even if he did find it surprising at first since Astrid usually stuck to Sirius' side.

'Oh, don't tell me you're jealous, bro?' Astrid smirked up to him but started to question herself when Sirius' smirk didn't reach his eyes.

'Just a bit.' 

'I'm sorry I haven't been spending as much time with you, Sirius. Remus' presence just gives me comfort, after everything it's actually nice to know there's someone like me.' Astrid reached down and interlaced their fingers, swinging their hands as they continued down the corridor.

'I know you feel comfortable with him but just don't forget about your brother.' Sirius reached up their intertwined hands and kissed her hand platonically, to show her he wasn't mad. It was at that point they made it into the Potion's class where most of the class where already seated, including Remus.

He watched as Astrid pulled Sirius in for a hug, inside he assured himself it was strictly platonic between them as it always had been but he couldn't held a slight feeling of jealousy tugging on his insides. Remus hadn't exactly planned to catch feelings for Astrid but it was particularly hard not to get flustered by her when she was constantly leaning on his shoulder.

'You alright, Moony?' James voice snapped his eyes away from the two, switching to his best friends face who had his eyes now glued to what he had just been staring at.

Remus coughed and turned to look down at his desk, knocking his knuckles off the wood lightly every couple of seconds , 'yeah, 'm fine.'

'Sure you are, Moony. Can't believe you fancy Astrid, though.' Remus coughed again at this comment and looked and James incredulously.

'What are you on about, James? It's Astrid, I've known her for like a million years.'

'Yeah, Moony, we're not that old and you've never spent this much time alone together. Don't tell me you have snogged her already?'

'Merlin, James, no!' Remus shouted almost a little too loudly and everyone turned to face him to which he coughed awkwardly again, waiting for Slughorn to begin teaching them about whatever potion was on the schedule for today. 

The class was long and boring with Remus turning every so often to see Astrid laughing at a joke Sirius made or vice-versa. If the day continued like this it was going to be _long._ 'Merlin, Moony, they're basically brother and sister, they literally call each other _brother_ and _sister_ so stop growling like the jealous werewolf you are and get to work. I'll give you chocolate if you're a good boy.' James' voice interrupted Remus' thoughts again.

'Was I actually growling?'

_And since when was James a voice of reason in the world?_

'Alright, class. That's it for today but I want a few of you to stay behind for a few moments.' Slughorn announced and those who weren't in the Slug Club immediately groaned and got out of their seats, thankful that it was the end of the day. That left just a few of the class, Astrid, James, Sirius and Remus included.

_Poor Peter._

Slughorn announced an annual Slug Club meeting in a few weeks, right before the next full moon actually. Both Remus and Astrid's moods darkened a bit after that but they could be thankful that another day of classes was over. 

There was a slight September breeze that day but the temperature was still relatively high for Scotland, leading most of the students to be outside, including the marauders and Astrid. James was feeling much like Remus had been earlier as he watched Lily and Severus sitting under a tree, laughing every so often.

'What does she see in him?' James wondered out loud and the group turned to him.

Remus scoffed, ' _they're practically brother and sister_ , sure, James?'

' _Very funny,_ ' James replied in a snarky voice, raising his eyebrows as he saw Astrid sprawled across both Sirius and Remus, her legs across Sirius' lap and her head in Remus', who played with her hair while she hummed softly at the feeling. Sirius had also noticed the scene that they had got themselves into, smirking slightly before beginning to throw daisy's in Astrid's long locks.

James sighed and looked back to Lily and Severus, to find Lily gone and suddenly shoved Sirius in the shoulder who looked at him, annoyed to be disturbed from his peace and asking 'what?'

'Come with me a minute, Sirius, I want to mess with Snivellous.'

'Merlin, you two are still such children,' Astrid butted into their conversation with her eyes closed, still silently appreciating Remus' fingers brushing her scalp.

'I'm coming too,' Peter frantically stood up, not wanting to be left to third wheel the two werewolves who were oddly touchy all the time now.

Severus sat all alone as he suddenly saw a mischievous looking James and Sirius approaching him, followed swiftly by Peter. This filled him with a sense of dread as he got up and drew his wand from his pocket only to have James shout an 'expelliarmus!' ridding Severus of his protection again.

Meanwhile Astrid sat beginning to fidget slightly in Remus' lap. 'You okay?' He asked.

'Yeah, just worried.'

'Why?'

'You know what James is like over Lily, how much he hates Snape and Sirius is enough of a twit to do whatever they are going to do him willingly. Sometimes I don't even think they realise they're bullying him.' Astrid stood up, shaking the daisies from her hair and pulling Remus up beside her before turning to leave their comfortable little spot against a tree by the lake. 'Come on.'

It didn't take the pair long before they were standing in the midst of a crowd cheering as the greasy-haired boy was hanging in the air upside down. 'Who wants me to take off Snivellous' trousers?' James asked to the crowd and they cheered louder.

'Merlin, he really isn't holding back this time,' Remus said under his breath while he watched the scene unfold.

Astrid heard him, 'Remus we need to do something, this is just outright awful! JAMES, BLOODY HELL, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!'

Lily must have heard the chanting and cheering as she was walking back to Severus as she came running down the hill, also shouting at James to stop what he was doing. 'Potter!'

'I don't need your help, you filthy mud blood!' Severus shouted spitefully and both Astrid and Lily's jaws dropped in shock in the exact same moment. The ginger-haired girls eyes welled up and she whipped her head around, leaving as quickly as she came.

'You've done it now, James!' Astrid shouted at the stupid boy and followed her close friend shortly after.


	9. Chapter 8

‘Today was mental, mate.’ Sirius spoke to James as he flopped back onto his bed in their dorm room.

‘Yeah but I think we might’ve messed up just a bit with both of the girls this time,’ James replied while running his hands down his face, taking his glasses off which dropped onto his own bed.

‘Yeah right, Astrid will forgive you in time as long as she sticks to Moony’s side like glue and if Lily’s away from Snivellous you might actually have a chance.’

A smile grew across James’ face and he looked up to meet Sirius’ eyes, ‘you think so?’

‘Sure, mate, just don’t abandon me like Astrid and Remus.’

‘Don’t even joke like that, they’d never abandon us. Maybe they’re being all touchy feely because it’s a wolf thing?’ James began to theorise.

‘Probably, they weren’t as close before all of this happened.’ Thoughts began to run through Sirius’ head as well.

‘I don’t know about that,’ James chuckled to himself, ‘it’s pretty obvious that Moony has had a crush on her for a while.’

‘What?How did I not notice?’

‘Absolutely no clue, mate, he used to stare and smile at her in this weird way and any time she would touch him, he would turn into a tomato.’ Sirius let out a laugh in reply as he imagined Remus turned bright red.

‘Do you think he’s only acting on it now because they’re both wolfy?’ 

‘Probably, you know he’s always never been with a girl for more than a night because of his wolfiness.’

‘I know he’s our best friend but if he hurts her I’ll kill him.’

James chuckled at Sirius’ overprotectiveness, ‘it’s Moony,he wouldn’t hurt a fly, calm down.’

James was right in saying Remus wouldn’t hurt a fly, he wouldn’t hurt Astrid either. Hurting people was one of the things he was most afraid of, especially hurting someone as beautiful as he thought Astrid was. Right now, her palm was warm in his as they walked hand in hand towards the Gryffindor common room. Astrid had been touching him a lot lately now that he thought about it, or was he touching her?

Astrid wasn't so sure about what was going on either, it was like the two were drawn to each other by an invisible bond that made them so clingy towards each other. She began to wonder if it was just as obvious to everyone else, even Remus. Sirius had noticed already, even going so far as to think she had replaced him with Remus, but that was far from the truth.

Sirius felt like a brother, Remus didn't.

'You look worried,' Remus noticed a weird look gracing Astrid's face. 'Is it the full moon?' He asked.

'Nah, I think I'm more worried about that Slug Club party,' she replied sarcastically and began to swing their arms back and forth in a childish way to which Remus chuckled.

'Well, I suppose that is coming up first. So... who are you going with this time, Sirius?' 

'No, I'm going with this boy that turns into a wolf once a month, maybe you know him?'

Remus raised his eyebrows in mock surprise (which was sort of real, but he didn't show the emotion in his eyes at Astrid's sudden bluntness.) 'Has this boy asked you or are you just assuming?'

'No, I think he's going to ask me soon.'

'Well... Astrid Fawley, will you go to this stupid party with me?'

'Of course, Remus Lupin, so gentlemanly of you to ask.'

Their laughter and chat ceased when they came across Snape standing outside the Gryffindor common room with a forlorn look on his face.

'Snape,' Astrid greeted while Remus stayed silent as they stopped in front of them, standing tall behind Astrid, hand still tightly gripped in hers. He didn't like that suspicious look Snape gave him whenever they passed each other.

'Fawley,' Snape replied, looking slightly frightened at the presence of the people he suspected to be werewolves. Well, he mostly suspected Remus but he spotted a rather suspicious looking scar on Astrid's neck one day in Potions and hadn't been able to get it out of his mind since. It did not look like a hickey. 

'What are you doing here?'

'Waiting for Lily, can you tell her to come out and speak to me?' Snape said in a pained voice. Remus let out a scoff but covered it up with a cough from behind Astrid. She elbowed him swiftly and gave him a pointed look, leave. He got the message and groaned, looking down at their entwined hands.

'You're going to have to let my hand go first,' Remus told her and she looked from his smirking face to their hands before letting go with a not-so-subtle sigh.

When the portrait hole was closed Astrid finally looked back at Snape again who looked slightly incredulous at what had just happened, he had always thought that perhaps it was the eldest black and Fawley that had a thing going on but apparently not. The thought would've made Astrid's skin scrawl. 'Okay, Severus, I hate to be the one to break this to you... actually something tells me you already know but Lily does not want to see you right now. I'd give it two weeks before you even so much as look in her direction for the shitty thing you called her.' 

Usually Astrid wasn't confrontational unless she was joking with one of her friends but no one would mess with her friends apart from her.

Astrid continued, 'one day, maybe, Lily will forgive you but that is not today so I suggest you go back to your room and wait until the thought of you doesn't make her sick to her stomach.' Snape's face was slowly turning to one of anger. Astrid's was turning to go through the portrait hole to get back to Remus but Snape's voice made her stop in her tracks.

'I know you and Lupin are hiding something.' 

'Nah,' she pretended to think deeply, 'doesn't sound like us.'

'I'm going to find out what it is!' His voice called from behind her as she flipped him off, walking through the portrait hole as fast as she could.

Little did she know Snape would find out.


	10. Chapter 9

'I can't believe I was right,' Sirius gawked as he watched an excited James walk into Slughorn's party with Lily, hand in hand.

'I can't believe you were right as well,' Astrid clinked her glass with Sirius', reminding her of a certain that had taken place the Summer before and shivered slightly before adding, 'I can't help but think Lily's only brought James with her to piss of Severus.' Both of their eyes wondered over to the fuming boy in the corner and Sirius silently agreed by nodding his head.

'Should we say something to James?'

'No. He totally deserves it for being a dickhead.'

'But you've forgiven me, though.'

'Well, you're my bro, Sirius.'

'Well, James is like my brother too, I would want to know.'

Astrid sighed, considering what to say next before finally settling on, 'James will just ignore it or get angry at us if we say something. Let's change the subject, where's Remus?'

'Of course you only care about where Moony is. Don't tell me you fancy him now as well.' Astrid's face turned a hundred shades of red at that moment and Sirius smirked at the unusually flustered girl. 'At least I know he isn't replacing me as your bro then. He better treat you right or else I will hit-'

'Who are you guys talking about?' Remus had suddenly entered the room, looking back and forth between the too.

'Nothing!' Astrid half-shouted and Remus' face faltered slightly.


End file.
